Sunday, January 31, 2016

In the Nahe region, we visited 3 wineries on the Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTorus (2015): Hexamer, Kruger-Rumpf and Hermannsberg. This posting covers the visit of Weingut Hexamer. We did a tasting in the tasting room of Weingut Hexamer. Harald and Petra Hexamer were our hosts.

Pictures: Weingut Hexamer

Weingut Hexamer

Weingut Hexamer is a family-owned and run winery in Meddersheim in the Nahe region. The vineyard area totals 23 hectares in Meddersheim, Schlossböckelheim and Sobernheim. The family name, Hexamer, dates back centuries in Germany and has a history of winemaking; however, it was not until the late 1990’s when the Hexamer family began producing commercially, i.e. when Harald Hexamer and his wife Petra took over.

Riesling accounts for 60 percent and Weißburgunder, Grauburgunder, Frühburgunder, Müller-Thurgau and Spätburgunder for most of the remainder.

Pictures: Welcome at Weingut Hexamer

Weingut Hexamer in the Terry Theise/ Skurnik Portfolio

In the US, Weingut Hexamer is relatively well known among the friends of German wine. It has a bit the reputation of producing “Dönnhoff wines at much lower prices”.

Terry Theise: Harald Hexamer’s dedication is seen both in his work in the vineyards and in the cellars. Hexamer holds 7.5 hectares in the Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg, a steep south-east facing slope of red sandstone with deposits of quartzite, which is known for producing especially small berries. Hexamer often harvests riper grapes from another site (Marbach) but the wines of Rheingrafenberg grapes are “more filigree and better-structured.” Schlossböckelheimer In den Felsen (“In the Rocks”) is a small vineyard at 6.5 hectares, of which the Hexamer’s own 4.5. The vineyard is markedly steep (70º) with south facing slopes composed of rocky porphyry and produces wines characterized by softer acidity and a subtle smokiness.

Pictures: Tasting

Hexamer’s meticulous work in the vineyard is marked by pruning to control yields (“often six to eight bunches per wine”) and hand-harvesting. The grapes are picked exclusively by hand and fermented very cold (below 12 degrees celsius) with cooling utilized only when necessary – “but we often pick so late we bring naturally cold fruit — below 10 degrees — back to the winery.”

Pictures: Harald Hexamer and Christian Schiller

Hexamer handles the wine as little as possible: no dosage is used, inoculations are made only with native yeasts, and all wines are whole-cluster pressed. 95% of all Rieslings at Hexamer are made in stainless steel and racked only once, three to six weeks after fermentation is complete. The wines are bottled early to preserve their vigor. For the Burgundian varieties, Harald constructed his own barrels in Meddersheim using oak from the Hunsrück forest seasoned for 5 years. When tasting the wines, one sees the purity of the vineyards, the intensity of minerality and remarkable clarity. Hexamer’s wines are balanced in the ultraviolet spectrum; they’re steely, acid-driven, clean and transparent.

We visited Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte in the morning. Following the visit and tasting we enjoyed lunch at Restaurant La Grand’ Vigne, prepared by Chef Nicolas Masse (2 stars Michelin). The restaurant is part of the Les Sources de Caudalie, a complex comprising a hotel, several restaurants and a health spa, which the owners of Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte constructed next to the Château.

The noble Bosq family started growing grapes here as early as 1365. The property was purchased in the 18th century by Scotsman George Smith, who gave the estate its present name. Current owners are Florence and Daniel Cathiard. Both Florence and Daniel were professional skiers belonging to the French Olympic ski team in the mid-1960s (with triple gold medal legend at the 1968 Winter Olympics Jean-Claude Killy). After their career in sports, Daniel built a supermarket and sporting goods store imperium and Florence an advertising agency. In 1990 they bought Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte with the wealth generated by the sale of all their assets. They brought the quality of Smith-Haut-Lafitte wines to the level for which they were once renowned.

Pictures: At Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte

La Grand’ Vigne (Worldtoprestaurants.com)

Worldtoprestaurants.com: Inspired by 18th century ornamental greenhouses, the restaurant La Grand' Vigne invites you to discover a sincere and generous cuisine which evolves with the season. La Grand’ Vigne is in a refined setting overlooking a small lake with swans, and it features a small terrace on which enjoy meals, weather permitting.

The decor and the 18th century fireplace that dominates the dining room recall the various shades of red wine grapes as they ripen in order to create a warm, comfortable ambiance that enhances the pleasure during a romantic dinner, or a business meeting in a private room.

2 Stars Michelin

Michelin: The cuisine in this charming 18C orangery is steeped in the flavours and colours of nature. The work of a young inspired chef, Nicolas Masse, who is a past master at combining flavours and textures with flawless accuracy to regale our senses. Deliciously sumptuous, down to the impeccable service.

Telegraph.co.UK: Chef Nicolas Masse is considered one of France's great rising talents, gaining his second Michelin star in February 2014. He shows off seasonal produce from the hotel's own vegetable garden, local farmers and the nearby Atlantic, using ingredients such as pigeon, Aquitaine caviar, lobster, wild turbot, in gastronomic restaurant La Grande Vigne. There’s an appropriately grand wine list. He also creates simpler, bistro-style cuisine in the Table de Lavoir, in a reconstructed washhouse, or wine and tapas-style snacks at the Rouge wine bar.

Nicolas Masse (worldtoprestaurants.com)

Worldtoprestaurants.com: Nicolas Masse, Born in Cherbourg is an English Channel region chef. He won his first star at the Michelin Guide in 2007 and 2010.

Son of an engineer of the nuclear industry, Nicolas Masse started his training as a cooker as novice at the Hotel Sofitel in Cherbourg. He got his CAP degree in Cherbourg, then he obtained his professional certificate in Hérouville-Saint-Clair (Calvados) working in the same time at the Deauville Casino. Then he learnt with Alain Lamaison at La Cabro d’or at Baux-de-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), then at la Villa Belrose at Gassin (Var). He tried his luck abroad, in England, in London in particular, he was Chief of Party at the Landmark in 1997, then at the Kingston Lodge. Then he joined the Beaufort in the Luxembourg.

In 2002, he flew on its own leading the kitchens of the Rosewood restaurant at the Grand Hotel in Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). He got his first star at the Michelin Guide.

In 2009 he joined the restaurant La Grand’Vigne des Sources de Caudalie in Martillac. One year later he got back his star in the guide.

Sommelier Aurélien Farrouil (Winespectator August 7, 2015)

Winespectator: Growing up in Bordeaux with no family ties to the wine industry, Aurélien Farrouil, 32, nevertheless found himself drawn to wine at a young age. He worked at his first Vinexpo—a massive international trade show held in the region every two years—when he was still a teenager, and quickly gained an understanding of how extensive the world of wine could be.

Farrouil attended hotel school in Talence, earned a diploma in wine and spirits marketing, and staged in many hotels and restaurants in France, including Michelin two-star recipient Michel Rostang in Paris. Les Sources de Caudalie, a luxury hotel owned by the Cathiard family of Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte in Pessac-Léognan, finally brought him back to his native Bordeaux. He has been with their high-end restaurant, La Grand’ Vigne, a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner, for more than 10 years, moving from assistant sommelier up to head sommelier.

The Wine Luncheon

Expression d'un terroir

Greetings from the kitchen

The tomatoes and herbs from the vegetable garden

The farm egg
Swiss chards juice

Roasted wild hake
Spinach emulsion and iodized royale cream

Roasted filet of veal from Bazas
Young vegetables

Cheese

Chocolate and lime

Coffee

Postings on the Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France (Posted and Forthcoming)

Friday, January 29, 2016

There are 4 Wine Guides in Germany: Gault Millau, Feinschmecker, Eichelmann and Falstaff. These are all annual guides, which are released around November/December.

The Eichelmann guide uses stars to rate winemakers. The best producers get 5 stars in the Eichelmann WeinGuide.

Eichelmann WeinGuide: 5 out of 5 Stars

28 producers received the maximum of 5 out of 5 stars in the Eichelmann WeinGuide Deutschland 2015. The number is up by 1 from last year, on account of 1 promotion, Weingut Sauer in Franken.

Interestingly, the list of winemakers from Baden is relatively long in the Eichelmann ranking and the list of winemakers from the Pfalz extremely short. The following wine regions do not appear in the list below, i.e. there is no winemaker with 5 stars: Mittelrhein, Saale-Unstrut, Sachsen, Hessische Bergstrasse.

Interestingly, elsewhere regarded as superstars, Weingut JJ Prüm and Weingut Egon Müller from the Mosel region, both known for their ultra-premium sweet style wines, are not in Eichelmann's 5 stars group of winemakers.

Picture: Friedrich Becker from Weingut Becker in the Pfalz, Werner Naekel from Weingut Meyer-Naekel in the Ahr and Ludwig Kreuzberg from Weingut H.J. Kreuzberg in the Ahr (from right to left, in Berlin)

Wine Tours

About Me

I live in the greater Washington DC (US) and Frankfurt am Main (Germany) areas and write about wine. I am a member of the FIJEV (International Federation of Wine and Spirits Journalists and Writers). Before starting to write about wine in 2009, I was for almost 30 years an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). I am currently in Washington DC.